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  John
O'Hea Crosby, whose vision and determination a half century ago created
The Santa Fe Opera, was born in New York City, July 12, 1926 to Laurence
Alden and Aileen O'Hea Crosby. He attended schools in New York and Connecticut,
and as a young boy made his first trip to New Mexico to attend the Los Alamos
Boys School. It was then that he fell in love with the northern New Mexico
landscape. After military service in World War II, Mr. Crosby entered Yale
University where he majored in music theory and composition. One of his
teachers there was Paul Hindemith. After receiving his B.A. he returned
to New York to continue his musical studies at Columbia University. During
this time he became an assistant musical arranger to a number of Broadway
composers. It was also during this time that his passion for opera developed.
Realizing that opportunities for young American singers to learn roles and develop their art were virtually non existent in this country, Mr. Crosby determined to start an opera company. And he chose Santa Fe. In an interview in the New York Times on the occasion of his retirement he said, "It (Santa Fe) was a community that had a flourishing art colony: painters, poets writers sculptors. And strangely from that galaxy of the arts, music was rather missing. So it seemed to me that the community would receive this missing link warmly." His father provided the funds to buy an old ranch seven miles north of the city, and on July 3, 1957 the first performance at The Santa Fe Opera was given, Puccini's Madame Butterfly with Mr. Crosby conducting. At the invitation of a Santa Fe friend, composer Igor Stravinsky came that first summer for performances of his opera, The Rake's Progress. The two men became fast friends and the composer returned for the next six years, during which Santa Fe performed almost all of Stravinsky's operas. In that first year Marvin David Levy's The Tower was given its world premiere. Subsequently, the company commissioned nine works from leading composers including Carlisle Floyd, Luciano Berio, George Rochberg and Peter Lieberson, and presented more than forty American premieres. In 1961, in a tribute to his former teacher, the company gave the American premiere of News of the Day by Paul Hindemith. Mr. Crosby has been recognized as one of the champions of the operas of Richard Strauss. Nearly every year since 1957, a Strauss opera has been performed by the company, always conducted by Mr. Crosby himself. He has been largely credited with the resurgence of interest in this composer. John Crosby's philosophy in founding the company was to give singers time to prepare their roles, and to engage the best directors and conductors for lengthy rehearsal periods before the first performances. Participants would spend the entire summer in Santa Fe. Another vital component in Mr. Crosby's plan was a special program for singers who had not yet begun their careers. The Apprentice Program for Singers was established in that first season, and continues to be one of the most important in the country. Artists including Sherill Milnes, James Morris, Neil Shicoff, Joyce di Donato, William Burden and Celena Shafer, all former apprentice singers, credit The Santa Fe Opera as being one of the most important influences on their careers. It was the source of considerable pride to Mr. Crosby that the company could claim important American debuts including Kiri Te Kanawa, and Bryn Terfel, and appearances by such opera luminaries as Marilyn Horne, Frederika von Stade, Jerry Hadley, Elisabeth Soderstrom and Samuel Ramey, Ben Heppner Catherine Malfitano and Dawn Upshaw. Every aspect of the operation of The Santa Fe Opera was a reflection of John Crosby's vision. In addition to the musical profile of the company, Mr. Crosby's respect for the unique New Mexico environment led to pioneering work in water recycling and wetlands projects on the opera grounds. In 1991 Mr. Crosby was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George Bush for "giving young American artists the opportunity to train and perform in their own country." In 1992 he was honored with the Officer's Cross of the Federal German Order of Merit from the German government. He served as President of the Manhattan School of Music from 1976 to 1986 and of Opera America from 1976 to 1980. He is the recipient of numerous awards and five honorary doctorates including one from Yale. He has also appeared as guest conductor with opera companies in this country and abroad. Mr. Crosby has been the subject of numerous articles, including a 1975 New Yorker profile by Winthrop Sargeant entitled, "A Miracle in the Desert." John Crosby was the longest serving general director of any American
opera company. He conducted performances every summer from 1957 through
2002. He retired as general director in 2000, and was given the title
of General Director Emeritus. Mr. Crosby died in December, 2002 at the
age of 76. |